On April 14 2007, Meath-based National Hunt trainer Gordon Elliott put Royal County sport firmly on the international map when he masterminded a phenomenal Aintree Grand National victory for his 33/1 shot Silver Birch. This was a truly extraordinary breakthrough for a man who is also a big supporter of Meath GAA. In '08, Gordon was delighted to see his local club Summerhill plot a path to the Meath county SFC final. When he saddled surprise packet Silver Birch in the 2007 Grand National, it would change Gordon Elliott's life forever. The gelding had been sold out of Paul Nicholls' yard at public auction, largely written off as crock with a heart murmur and a leg injury. He was given little or no chance of winning the big one over four miles and four furlongs at Aintree, and this was reflected in his long 33/1 price. But the Grand National is the race of dreams and Silver Birch would join the long list of incredible victors in the world's most valuable National Hunt race. It was a fairytale story on a veritable fairytale stage. Owned by Brian Walsh from Kildare and ridden by Robbie Power, Silver Birch was Gordon's first-ever runner in the Grand National. That in itself was historic and he was mightily proud just to have a horse in the race. Imagine his delight when Silver Birch held off the challenges of McKelvey and Slim Pickings to land the legendary Grade 3 handicap chase. Amazingly, the handler had yet to train a winner at home in Ireland, but here he was scooping the biggest prize of all, the one everybody wants to win most. The success represented a massive early boost to Elliott's career - he had only taken out his training licence twelve months earlier. From his Capranny Stables base on Trim's Kildalkey Road, the Summerhill man reflects on the whole experience with a trademark sense of calm, philosophical modesty. "It was unbelievable," he says, matter-of-factly. "To even have a runner in the Grand National in my first season was a dream come true. But we won it and I haven't looked back since, thankfully." How did Gordon achieve such success so early in his career? Many trainers have dedicated their entire lives to trying to win the Grand National. It's the Holy Grail of National Hunt racing. Yet, here was a relatively-unknown Meath man trumping them all with a horse that had been written off by those 'in the know'. Hollywood script writers wouldn't get a look-in with this story. What is the secret of Gordon Elliott's success? How did he work this oracle? "Well, obviously I have some very good horses here and great staff, who contribute a lot to the success of the operation. Outside of that, fitness is an absolute priority. It's important to get the horses very fit and to keep them as healthy as possible. You have to be straight with the owners, too. A lot of little things can go wrong and you can run into setbacks along the way, so it's important to keep the owners up to speed with everything and to make sure they have the full picture. "Once you have the horses fit and healthy and keep the owners in the loop as much as possible, the trick is to place the horses in the right races. We choose the races carefully and it's really important to get the right race for each horse every time." As a trainer, Gordon is going from strength to strength. During the summer of 2008, he had almost 30 winners in Ireland, including two wins in just over a week for Grand Opera at Dundalk and Laytown as well as triumphs for Silidan, Careless Abandon, Connemara Rose, Buachaill On Eirne, Paddy On The Rye, Salford City, Newtown Bridge and Present Gesture. "I have about 50 in training altogether. We have a wonderful team of horses here and also an excellent staff," the Meath man reiterates. What are the best prospects in the stable? "To be honest, we have a lot of great horses and it would be very difficult to pick any out from the team. I'm hoping to go forward and enjoy a lot of success with many of them." It wasn't by chance that Gordon Elliott became involved in horse training. He's had a great love of horses all his life and always aspired towards a career working with them. "I used to ride as an amateur and I was always a big fan. This has always been something that I really wanted to do and thankfully it has worked out well for me. Barry Callaghan [an All-Ireland winner with Meath in 1996] owns the stables and he has been very good to us. We've had some work carried out here recently and the facilities are top class, so things are going well on all fronts." On the football front, Gordon was happy to see Summerhill build on their terrific recent U21 successes by qualifying for the 2008 Meath senior football championship final. Unfortunately, they didn't do themselves justice in the decider against Navan O'Mahonys on Sunday October 12, but there's an old adage that you have to lose a final before you can win one and hopes are high that the '08 experience in general will stand the players in good stead. "It's great to see them getting through to the final with such a young team. They look like they're one of the up-and-coming teams in Meath at the moment. They've been threatening a breakthrough for a while and hopefully they are a step closer now. The county final defeat was disappointing, but they are young, hardy lads and they have no fear. They'll have to take it on the chin and bounce back." Gordon played a bit of underage football himself but is quick to point out that he was nowhere near as gifted as his brother, Joey. He's an ardent supporter of the Meath county team. "I try to go to all the Meath games, especially when thy get to the latter stages - which they didn't manage this year. We all like to support them as best as we can, but they have been disappointing recently. When they're going well, they give everybody a lift and we get some great days out at Croke Park. It's good for the county as a whole." When it comes to giving the sport-mad Meath public a fillip, Gordon Elliott has certainly played his part in the past. And - as his career is still very much in its infancy - there should be plenty more where that came from! Tweet

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